50mms? What more would one need?

Leica SL 50mm APO Summicron.

Everyone who enjoys photography has a different opinion about lenses. No matter what camera system they currently own. And not everyone can find a "one size fits all" lens to satisfy them. But I'd conjecture that those who don't shoot sports, birds and ambush paparazzi photos fall into the same category as me right now. Based on the demographics I've been able to assess most readers of the VSL blog are within ten years of my age, on either side, have a college degree of some sort and have worked and saved long enough to be somewhat financially secure; if not truly affluent. Some are retired and some are not. But nearly everyone likes to take their camera out on adventures that are more or less wrapped around the desire to make photographs. 

And most could likely be served by one camera and one lens. I hate acronyms but OCOLOY was an acronym made up by Michael Johnston years ago when he posited that a good exercise for a photograper would be to use: One camera and one lens for one year. I'm more flexible than that. I understand that there might be times when it's good or practical to step away from the one, one, one experiment. But at its heart the OCOLOY is a good way to get really, really proficient with a very pared down set of tools. Simplicity sometimes equals transparency in the process. 

As a working commercial photographer, during my career, I never succumbed to the OCOLOY idea. I always felt that I had to have enough focal length variations and choices to handle any of the work projects that clients needed done. We needed very wide angle lenses to show off vast warehouse or factory spaces, macro lenses for product work ---- especially with very small products --- we also needed longer lenses to photograph speakers at podiums in big convention halls. Fast, medium telephoto lenses for traditional portraits and medium-wide lenses (think 35mm and 28mm) for event imaging that required a bit of documentary skill.  Or zooms that provided the same coverage. And reasonable proximity to the participants.

After I passed along my 30+  year position as a theater photographer for a regional theater it dawned on me that the only type of work I had been doing with longer zoom lenses was shooting live stage productions. After a few months I gathered up the long zooms and sold them off. Never looked back and never needed the zany 70-200mm f2.8 lenses for anything else. It was fun to see them go...

The same thing seems to be happening with wide angle lenses in my "work kit." I look at the lenses I've accrued for corporate work with a big mirrorless camera and started separating out the lenses I never really used for any of my personal photography. I started looking seriously at them and wondering when was the last time I pulled X lens out of the drawer to stick on a camera and take out just for fun. Amazingly, the selection was pretty easy. They could nearly all go. Now.

I have two main camera systems. One is built around the Leica M mount cameras and the other (always thought of it as my "commercial" system) is built around the Leica SL cameras. mirrorless. 

In the M mount system raw performance is balanced by portability, reliability and compactness. Great glass and easy to carry around. In that system I have lenses from 21mm to 90mm and those aren't going anywhere. Most are Zeiss or Voigtlander lenses and they work remarkably well when I want to downsize the overall package; and they shrink the total volume and weight when mounted on an SL camera as well. But, as I said just above, that M system, and those lenses, aren't going anywhere. They are too much fun. Especially the two APO lenses from Voigtlander (35+50). Perfect for casual shooting.

But in the "work" system (SL) I've got way too many choices and way too much duplication and overlap. I pulled out a cardboard box and started pulling out the lenses I kept for clients but haven't had fun with in years. There are lots of contemporary wide angles but also a hodgepodge of older legacy 50mm lenses from Nikon, Canon, Zeiss and Voigtlander. A handful of semi-wide to semi-long zoom lenses from a variety of makers and lots and lots of neglected filters and adapters to fit everything. 

Nearly every single prime lens in the collection isn't quite as sharp as the individual focal lengths represented by one Leica 24-90mm SL zoom lens. Why keep them? Size? That's what the M rangefinder lenses are for. 

So, what will I end up with if I really want to downsize the lens collection; in addition to the M mount lenses? Two Leica zoom lenses, one Leica 50mm (the one above), one Leica R 135mm f2.8 ROM lens and.... perhaps... the Sigma 45mm f2.8 for those times when small and light but AF and auto are part of the fun. 

Why the zany APO 50mm f2 SL Summicron? I always thought it would be fun to own the best 50mm lens ever made for consumer cameras --- at least once.  How am I liking it so far? Really great optical performance is as addictive as it gets. It's amazing. Incredibly expensive but amazing. 

The "end of client work" mentality is interesting. For the first couple of months there was a running sub-current of disbelief. A sense that at any minute I'd drop back into the work mode and would need all the stuff I'd pieced together over the years to get stuff done. That an amazing project would surface which might call for some combination of the un-fun, but highly practical, stuff in order to complete. But over time, as I turned down more and more routine work and said "goodbye" to clients, I became more and more resistant to the idea of spending any time which was out of my complete control. And, at a certain point a month or so ago, it was like a switch in my brain clicked and the idea of ever going back to actual, paid work became a non-starter. I'd been spoiled by doing only what I wanted to do... on my schedule. For my own amusement and satisfaction.

At some point I think everyone who cuts the strings with a photographic work/career comes to understand that the fun quotient that drove us into the field was situated in the primeval early days of one's rapturous first embrace of photography. The fun times always seemed to be those first carefree years when one could only afford that entry level SLR and that 50mm lens that came as part of the kit. And amazingly all the things we shot with that primitive kit had more energy and sparkle than anything that mountains of gear eventually provided. Mostly because we had limited choices and never thought to try a throw money at a creative challenge. Because, well, we really couldn't.

At least that's my sense of it. So, for me, the idea of a really cool 50mm, and one really cool camera body as an every day combination pushes me to remember and appreciate how easy it was to make photos I really loved back in the day. When no other choices clouded my intentions. 

It may be just me but distilling down gear seems fun and clarifying. Purging. Freeing. 

Works for lights, light stands, modifiers and lots of other stuff as well....

I understand that many photographers don't love the 50mm focal length as I do. I'm sure it's partially nature and partially nurture ---- as in what you learned on and what you became most comfortable with. You may feel about the 28, 35 or 85mm choices the same way I do about the 50mm but I have a sneaking suspicion that, even if you protest my basic assumption, there's one focal length lens that holds a special place for you and if you didn't have external constraints gnawing at you it's the lens you'd pick nearly all the time. And the one you do your best work with. And that's something fun to learn, even this far into life.

From yesterday's first excursion into mono-lensing.

photographed on South Congress Ave. with a

Leica SL2-S and the 50 APO SL Summicron. 

A nice and ?practical? combination...

 

New lens arrives and is almost immediately subjected to "mannequin testing."

UPS got here early. I was thrilled. They delivered a nondescript, brown box with no box trauma evident anywhere. Nicely done. Inside the box there were lots of shipping peanuts. And nestled in the warm embrace of the peanuts was another box. And inside that box there was another box (no kidding) and inside that box was all the goodies one has come to expect when unboxing a premium Leica lens. I pulled out a 50mm APO Summicron and immediately attached it the a waiting SL2-S camera - waiting patiently on my desk with a fully charged battery and a (twice checked) memory card. 

The lens is heavy. Incredibly solid feeling. Bereft of any external controls other than the focusing ring. I spent an hour walking around shooting random stuff that I thought might show off the performance of the lens and then, after stopping to buy Girl Scout cookies (thin mint) I rushed home to look at the images and perhaps convince myself that I hadn't spent a king's ransom for nothing. These four images are really two images; a full size and then a very tight crop so we can all see the detail in the fabrics and the appliqués. 

From my point of view the lens is exactly what I was expecting. And hoping for. Both images were shot hand-held and at f2.8. I think the detail is yummy. That's all for right now....

 

Photography provides photographers with so many opportunities to screw up. Just like today...

Mirror, mirror on the wall, reflecting the door on the restroom stall. 

It's a sunny day in Austin. The high today is predicted to be 82° Fahrenheit. T-shirt weather. Birkenstock weather. Rangefinder with 21mm weather! And that was my plan. I grabbed the same camera off the desk that I used on a different walk yesterday, got in the car and headed over to the UT campus to meander around, photograph and reminisce about my long years there as, first a student and then a Specialist Lecturer in the College of Fine Arts. I was looking forward to seeing the crowds of students crossing the streets with cellphones firmly in hand. The perfect landscaping of the University. So easy to do when budgets are infinite and local labor is cheap. I was also looking forward to having a nice coffee at Medici Caffé. Right there on the main drag. Just across from campus.

I parked my car at a metered space about a half mile from the epicenter of my destination, tossed my camera onto my shoulder and meandered through the side streets and into the campus flow. Then I saw a great scene appear in front of me. A majestic building with an unending line of students passing in front. I turned the camera on and looked at the rear screen for confirmation of life only to find the dreaded notice on the LCD: "Warning! No memory card inserted !!!" and just like that the air came out of the fun balloon of my afternoon. Hard to take photographs, even with a Leica, if there is no memory card plugged into the card slot. 

It wasn't the end of world. It wasn't a job. No one I can think of was depending on me to inject some sort of new brilliance into the world of photography. But I was crestfallen because, well, I like to get things right and I hate it when I screw up the basics. I usually recharge the battery of the camera when I get home from a walk or a shoot. I usually download from the memory card the images I've taken as soon as I get home. And, as soon as I download images (automatically  backed up to a second HD...) I re-format the card and stick it back in the camera for next time. But, yesterday we were in a rush to meet people for dinner at a favorite restaurant and I broke with habit. Now to my chagrin... and embarrassment.

I re-learn stuff all the time. After I wrote that last paragraph I scrounged around and found five or six slightly older 64 GB SDII cards, put them in an appropriate container and stuck them into the center console of the car. Now, if I'm willing to circle back to the car to correct this kind of oversight in the future, they will be there waiting for me.

It's a pretty safe bet that I'm not the first photographer to trip over my own lack of attention to details. And it's not the first time I've left the house and gone somewhere only to find that either the memory card or the extra battery for the camera didn't complete whatever journey I planned. Never came along for the ride. But it's rare enough that I'd say it only happens once every five years or so. 

The other potential oversight/stumble usually involves either camera batteries or flash batteries. Nothing like going out on a cold day with a digital camera, watching the battery level gauge drop minute by minute as the chill wind cuts through your thin, cheap, Texas gloves and  only then realizing that the poor battery in your camera is flying solo. Once it's done its best and given its all your shooting day is over. Done. Makes one long for the old days of film when many cameras ran on double "A" batteries or were so totally mechanical they could be used without batteries. One less point of failure. Of course, those were the "good old days" when we might have assumed that there was a fresh roll of 36 exposure film in our camera only to find, while seeing the most beautiful, potential image imaginable, that your camera's frame counter stopped counting about 50 frames ago ---- because there was no film n the camera. There's always something that can go wrong. 

While it's easy to get frustrated by these small roadblocks that the universe sometimes conjures up to keep us on our toes my response today was to shrug my shoulders and continue on to the coffee shop for that perfect latté. At that point I really did consider my Leica as just expensive jewelry.

Chateau somewhere just outside of Paris proper.

In full costumes to amuse the American corporate clients

that paid a king's ransom to party in style...

The Champagne and caviar flowed like...whatever. 

If you went to Paris with an Olympus Pen FT camera and your camera's 

meter battery died you could still shoot the 72 frames on your roll of film

without issue. All the better if you were shooting color negative film and 

you were smart enough to figure out ballpark exposures....

 Same in Mexico City or Venice. 

Louvre. Is that a spiral staircase or just 

swirly bokeh?

On the streets of Madrid. Across from the Prado. 

Boat racing in the Jardin de Luxembourg.

Question: It is "upgrading" if you are adding a new camera but not getting rid of your current camera?

Can one "upgrade" from a newer camera to an older one? 

Is it okay to just own both?

Rediscovery of an APS-C camera. Portrait of David.

A while back, when I was just putting a foot into the Leica digital waters, I bought a couple of their digital CL cameras. Sweet, compact, interchangeable lens cameras that used APS-C sensors to keep them small and easy to carry around. While Leica sold a small group of lenses for the CL, L mount partner, Sigma stepped in to supply faster, less expensive APS-C designed lenses for the system. The three I ended up holding onto were the 16mm f1.4, the 30mm f1.4 and, my favorite, the 56mm f1.4. The 56mm is equivalent to an 84-85mm field of view on a full frame camera. 

While initially overshadowed by subsequent purchases of newer, higher resolution, full frame cameras from the company I have found the Leica CLs to be great tools for those times when you either want to travel a lot lighter or when you need their smaller sensor size to supply greater reach in the telephoto range. Also, the greater depth of field for a given f-stop is helpful when you want to use fast, wide angle glass at near wide open apertures but still keep enough in focus to make a photo work well. I pulled out the CLs recently and put them back to work. They are quite fun to carry around while out walking with no agenda.

I was out walking on Sunday, a week ago, when I dropped by Jo's Coffee and ran into my friend (and fellow photographer) David. I made this casual portrait (above) as we were sitting and chatting. It seemed just right. The 56mm Sigma lens (Contemporary) kept the span from David's nose to the back of his hat in adequate focus at f2.8 but successfully blurred the background just as much as I wanted. 

While I understand that Leica is a smaller camera company than most and it's a stretch to think they have the comfortable bandwidth to serve up a number of different product lines concurrently, I really wish they had not pulled the plug on the CL (compact Leica) system. They left many users wishing and hoping for a CL-2 camera that never arrived. There are times when "small and light" but still highly capable is a nice option to have. While I like the various fixed lens compact cameras out on the market I always find myself wishing they offered the choice for a different lens instead of the focal lengths the herd demands (relentless 28mms). Leica was on the right path with the new Q3-43 but how nice it would be to have an even more compact Q variant with an APS-C sensor and a fast normal lens on the front; like the Q3-43 does in the full frame arena...

I thought about selling the CL cameras a while back but hesitated. Now, when I go and look for additional bodies I find that they are going back up in price on the used markets. Maybe Leica can look to those rising price trends as product demand research and come to the decision to re-launch that format. But...probably not. 

One of my friends took me to task when I originally bought the CLs  and an assortment of APS-C only lenses. He suggested that if the camera system was discontinued that the lenses would eventually become useless and would lose their value. I might have agreed had I not tried using the Sigma APS-C L mount lenses on a Leica SL2, with the camera set to shoot APS-C. The lenses work quite well when used that way and the camera provides image stabilization! You are still getting file sizes over 20 megapixels and, if Sigma follows other lens makers then APS-C lenses are designed to give a higher resolution with over 50% contrast to compensate for their intended use on a smaller, more densely packed imaging sensor.  All nicely bundled with auto focus and full lens automation.

In a pinch, at corporate events with speakers at far away podiums, I have resorted to using the APS-C mode on the SL2 to gain more reach with a telephoto lens on the front. I could easily do the same thing by using the longer ff lenses (like 135mm and above) with the CL bodies. Nice that the lens mount is the thing that keeps the older bodies and lenses from being obsoleted entirely. And, depending on your intended use, not obsolete at all !

The strength and weakness of the digital CL are the same. The battery. It's a bit small and runs down fairly quickly. 250-300 shots. But the strength of it is that the CL uses the same battery as many Panasonic compact cameras and both of the recent Sigma fp variants. This means the market is filled with compatible batteries as cheap as $12 each, to batteries I have more confidence in, like Sigma branded and Panasonic banded batteries in the $40 price range. But if you absolutely have to have the Leica branded battery you can still find them for around $125 each. I have a bunch of the Sigma batteries. I've yet to have on fail. 

I just liked the portrait and thought you might enjoy the technical backstory. Hope all is well. 

 

A short afternoon walk with the new Thypoch Ksana 21mm f3.5 ultra wide angle lens. Not my strong suit but after I made my own profile for the lens I was pretty darn happy.

today I walked in the Hyde Park neighborhood in central Austin. Lots of wonderful, little 1940s and 1950s houses, many painted exuberantly. I hadn't gotten a lot of use out of the 21mm lens I bought a couple weeks ago during the last cold snap. I'd used it on an SL2 just to try it out but, of course, the real test is when you put the lens on a camera type that it was designed for and you go out and shoot it for a while. And Hyde Park was a fun testing ground for my primitive use of the lens.

21mm lenses are problematic. Depending on the camera sensor, the angle of the prevailing light and the phase of the moon there is always the possibility of some color shifting at the edges and in the corners of the frame. I made a color profile for this lens in Lightroom and used it on all the frames here. It consists of a tiny bit of geometric correction, some vignetting correction and, most importantly, some mild linear masking on each side of the frame which allowed me to simply use the green/magneta slider to remove a slight magenta cast that occurred on the left and right sides of the frames. The work of five minutes and the profile could then be used on all the files with a batch synchronization. Yay Software! 

The Ksana (zany name?) 21mm is very sharp and creates very saturated files. I love those attributes. I can always adjust saturation but it's nice to start with data rich/detail rich files when you can. I used the lens on an M240 camera today, in the raw/DNG format. I set the white balance for daylight and used auto-ISO with a minus 2/3rd stop compensation for most of the images. I brought along a Leica zoom optical finder that gives me framing for 21,24 and 28mm lenses but I found that it was easiest to just use an EV-2 EVF finder and turn on live view instead. Worked very well and made composing quite accurate. Considering that you can pick up the Leica branded version of this finder for around $175 on the used market I would suggest picking one up unless you want to spend a lot more money buying zoom finders or individual bright line finders to use with wider lenses. You won't be able to use the camera finder of ultra-wide angle coverage (21 and 24 are a "no go") but you will still always be able to use the camera finder for very accurate and quick focusing. A decided plus with very wide angle lenses...  One note though, the EV-2 works only with the M240 cameras and variants and not the M10 or M11 cameras!!! Don't buy one for your M11 --- they make another, much pricier finder, just for that model.

The advantage of the Ksana 21mm over some other lenses is that it's very, very small and, by extension, very lightweight. If you love shooting with an M rangefinder camera it's a good, solid addition to an M only gear kit. But if you also shoot with a mirrorless system like the Leica SL cameras or any of the other mirrorless cameras in the market you can finder lenses that are better corrected for partial frame color shifts and which are available with faster maximum apertures and also AF. In my case I wanted to be able to make a complete, do everything (almost) kit for my M stuff. If I were a more rational and thoughtful planner I might not have bought the lens as I also use Leica SL type cameras and already have a Sigma Contemporary 21mm lens for the L mount that is pretty darn good. If I were a bit more frugal I'd make do with the Sigma instead. Live and learn. 

But, as you can see from the images the Ksana 21 really does deliver nice results. Especially if you take the time to build a suitable profile with which to add into your post production with this lens. 

The lens is quite attractive on a black M camera. And it does what it's supposed to do. I never can imagine I'd need a faster 21mm as one of the lens's attractive qualities is its deep depth of field at apertures like f5.6 and f8. The value of a 21mm f1.4 eludes me. Or escapes me. Or both. 

Here are bunch of images that serve as proof of practice. Make them big if you want. They have a lot of detail to share. Buy or don't buy....we don't care here because it doesn't benefit Mr. Tuck in the least.